The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1887-10-12
SLEEPING WONDERS.
Fcats Accomplished by some Men While
in tho Arms of Morpheus.

FeAts Accomplished by Some Men While
in tho Arms of Morpheus
Sleep in most individuals lasts for
the space of eight hours. Exceptions
to this statement are numerous; whether
these arise from duty or laziness we
shall not venture to examine. Sir T..
Codrington, the famous naval officer,
when a midsh ipman, could watch on
deck for nineteen hours; this left only
five for sleep, which in his case was
most profound-so profound that no
noise was sufficiently strong to waken
him; vet If the word Signal" was
whispered in his ear he awoke and was
on deck instantly.
Reporters in the House of Commons
require great exertions to keeping them
selves from sleeping. A few years ago
distinguished member of "the gentle
men in the gallery" took down a speech
while he was sleeping His statement
rests on his oath. Calvin tells of a
friend of his reading aloud to him while
asleep. The organ of vision was alone
active.
Coleridge, the dreaming philosopher,
composed "Kubla Khan" zone of his
poems) while fast asleep. Next morn
ing he was sure there had been an ac-
QUESTION to his literature, but was too
negligent to write the stanZas. A few
days afterward he attempted to recall
the verses, but they had for the most
part fled, and the poem as il now stands
is but fragment.
Every one knows that extreme ia
tigue induces sleep, and this In spite
of surrounding relations, which In or
binary circumstances would hinder any
one from resting. Previous to the
shortening of the hours of work factory
children frequently fell asleep while
working at the machines. although we'll
aware that they would incur severe
punishment by doing so. The North
American Indian at the stake of torture
has been known to 60 to sleep on the
least remission of agony, and will slum-
Der until the fire is applied to awaken
him.
1t is on record that during the heat
of the battle of the Nile some of the
over fatigued boys fell asleep upon the
deck, and during the attack upon Ran
coon, in the Burmese war, the captain
of one of the steam frigates most active
ly engaged, worn out by the excess of
continued mental tension, fell asleep and
remained perfectly unconscious for two
hours, within yard of his largest guns,
which were being worked energetically
the whole period
Habit and time, place and circum-
stances, predispose us all to sleep The
celebrated pedestrian, Captain Barclay,
when accomplishing his extraordinary
feat of walking 100 miles in as many
successive hours, obtained at last such
a mastery over himself that he fell
asleep the instant he lay down. The
doctors wife never hears the door bell
during the night, although the noise is
sufficient to rouse the weary husband (;
but should child in the nursery cry,
then the mother, oblivious to all other
sounds, hears at once the infants voice.
1t is related that the Able Faria, who
acquired notoriety through his power
of inducing somnambulism, was accus-
toned merely to place his patient in an
armchair, after telling him to shut his
eyes and collect himself and pronounce
in strong voice, "dormez," which was
usually successful.
There seems to be no limit to the
wonders displayed by man in sleeping.
Condorcet, the mathematician, solved
one of his most difficult problems while
asleep-a problem, too, which puzzled
him during his waking hours. A pro-
lessor of theology in the University of
Basic once wrote sermon while asleep
he found it in his desk next morning.
The preceding night he could not crap
pie with the subject as he desired, but
the performance of his sleeping hours
was quite satisfactory to him.
Jenny Lind was one of the most cele-
brated singers of her time. No one
could rival her powers except factory
girl, who sang sometimes better than
the famous Jenny. The girl could not
attempt my difficult piece when awake,
but when sleeping she sang so correctly,
so4ike to the renowned artistic, that it
was difficult to distingu sh between
their voices. On one occasion Made
moiselle Lind heard the girl, and even
tested the accuracy of her powers by
giving her long and elaborate chro-
matte exercise. This the sleeping girl
performed, much to the wonder of the
famous Swedish singer.